We associate joy and anticipation with the holidays, but realistically, the many disruptions can also take a toll. For many it means breaks from healthy dietary, exercise and sleep routines. Others are plagued with time and finance concerns or experience physical and mental fatigue from family and holiday chaos.

Winter months can be a mixed bag: Even as we mingle with friends and family, some also struggle with financial stress or mixed emotions about a recent loss or change in family dynamics. But there’s another silent winter impostor that can cast a cloud over the holidays, and linger long after: Seasonal Affective Disorder, or appropriately, SAD.

The holidays are riddled with excesses, and often that also means spending more than we do in a typical month. That can add to the stress of an already frenzied time, particularly when household budgets are already strained when everything seems to cost more.

Everyone gets stressed from time to time.Although at this time of year, between Thanksgiving and New Year, stress can pile up faster than blizzard snow on a freshly shoveled sidewalk

The Thanksgiving holiday offers a special opportunity to adopt an attitude of gratitude for all the good things we’ve received during the current year, as well as for our families and friends. And some research shows that incorporating a more frequent practice of expressing gratitude may provide year-round benefits.

While we equate fireworks with this country’s July Independence Day celebrations, most fireworks-related injuries occur between June 18 and July 18 – making June the perfect time to be aware of firework safety and educate children and teens.